Various ice maker designs have been proposed for refrigeration appliances such as commercial or home refrigerators and/or freezers. In certain automatic ice makers, water is provided from an external source to a chilled ice cube mold. Once the water freezes into ice, the ice cubes in the mold are harvested and the cycle is repeated. Ice cube removal can be assisted by a brief heating of the mold to separate the ice cubes from the mold, if desired. Often, a sensor is present to detect an ice level in the ice bucket as ice builds up in the ice bucket as the cycle progresses. If the ice level in the bucket reaches a certain predetermined amount (i.e., the ice bucket is full), the cycle is halted until ice is removed from the ice bucket thereby lowering the ice level. In many refrigeration appliances, this cycle repeats automatically until the ice level sensor indicates a full ice bucket.
Such systems generally work well and as intended to provide a constant supply of ice and full ice bucket when desired. However, ice cubes in an ice bucket held within a freezer compartment that is well below the freezing point of water will naturally get colder until they match the ambient freezer temperature. The ice cubes may therefore become harder and cloudy, and individual ice cubes may freeze together or to the sides of the holding container. Some consumers do not find such colder, cloudy ice cubes preferable, and would rather have ice cubes closer to the freezing temperature.
However, in typical refrigeration appliances having refrigerator portions and freezer portions, neither of these portions is typically held at such a temperature near the freezing temperature of water. Accordingly, an improved design would be welcome for an ice maker wherein ice cubes are provided at a temperature more approximating the freezing temperature of water, and not substantially below such temperature, from a conventional refrigeration appliance.